Hi! I'm back! Thanks SO much to Azumizai especially, as well as Me and My God Complex, Mystykat, Roy Mustang 08 and KiraratheDemon for reviewing!! It made me so happy to get so many reviews for my first chapter! So here goes the next one (oh yeah, and I'm fixing up the first one as we speak...See, what ended up being chapter one was actually supposed to be like, the first 3 chapters so I put those stupid little "cliffhanger ha ha ha" things in the middle where the chapter was supposed to end, which was really dumb and I'm taking them out now. So that's why they were there in the first place.)

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At 8, Roy was dressed and knocked on Al's door. Al came out of Ed's room behind him. "Good morning Colonel." he said pleasantly. "I already gave Edward some of your orange juice. I hope you don't mind." Roy shook his head. "Time to get him into the cab. It should be here any minute." Al nodded silently. "Roy entered the room to find Ed sitting, dressed in his usual black, on the edge of the bed drinking orange juice. "Time to go Edward." Roy decided to take a forceful stance. He would never talk Ed into going peacefully anyway.

"Going where?" Roy glared at Ed. Ed glared at Roy. They both knew he knew where. Roy bluntly said so. "You know perfectly well where." he said, hauling Ed up by his arm. "Hey! I don't want to go!" Roy ignored him and dragged him out to the waiting cab. "No!" Ed was still resisting. "Watch the house, will you Alphonse?" Roy shut the cab door. "Wait! Brother's afraid of check-ups!" he yelled after the car. Everyone else on the street heard him, but not the one he'd intended.

"Edward Elric." A nurse called his name. Ed froze behind his magazine. "Elric?" she repeated. Roy grabbed Ed's arm and bodily forced him into the room for check-ups. "I think I'd better stay with him." Roy suggested, pulling out a familiar piece of paper. "Legally, I'm his father." The nurse nodded and told them to wait one moment. Roy immediately turned to Ed as she shut the door. "Edward." he growled threateningly and Ed drew back "Don't thre-"

"Co. Op. Er. Ate."

"I said don't threaten me!"

"What? I'm telling you to cooperate, not threatening." Roy paused, seemingly genuine in his irritated confusion.

"Never mind."

"Why are you afraid of check-ups anyway?" Roy murmured lazily. Ed just blushed. "Well, Ed?"

"Look, I'm not afraid, I just don't like anyone touching me. I thought you would figure that out."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah...Wait. Am I going to have to strip?" he glared at Roy.

"Good grief, when was your last visit? Not all the way."

"Mom made me go once when we visited East Central. I was five."

"...TEN years? Wow."

"And you?" Ed smirked, confidence up again.

"I go annually. Every January."

Ed blushed again and pouted.

"Jealous?" It occurred to Roy 7 nanoseconds after he spoke that he shouldn't rile Edward up in a hospital. Too late now.

CLAP!

BOOM!

The table Ed had just been sitting on was now rearing up and over Roy, suddenly wrapping around him in a steel straightjacket. It was actually more like a metal tube going from Roy's ribs down over his hips. Roy gulped. Ed was standing with a menacing grin on his face and a hypodermic needle in his hand.

"Edward. What's in that?"

"Not sure. Wanna help me find out?"

"No. Get me out of here."

Ed only grinned and began to walk toward Roy very, very...slowly.

Roy was saved by a tall woman in blue scrubs opening the door. She was very collected, Roy decided, when she looked around her workspace and proceeded to address Ed in an even tone. "An alchemist I see. I hope you won't mind restoring my room to its original order."

Ed sighed. "If I do, can you kick him out?"

"I'm afraid not. But if you don't, I can have you court-martialed. I see your pocketwatch chain."

Ed clapped his hands and the table jigged its way back into place.

"Amazing. I work with alchemists out in the field, but none have ever foregone the circle."

Ed shrugged. "I've got more surprises for you, I'm sure." Not knowing how to take that, she ignored it.

Glancing at a clipboard she looked in his eyes and mouth, and then in his ears. At the last, he screwed up his face and scrunched it into perfect stillness. It made Roy laugh. "Alright Mr. Elric. Take off your shirt please. Ed glanced down before tugging off his gloves and jerking his black jacket off. She eyed him for a moment, taking it in. After a moment, "And the T-shirt too please." Ed pulled it off over his head. Roy looked away in an exaggerated manner, wordlessly teasing Ed.

Ed squeaked and dashed past Roy towards the door suddenly. Roy grabbed his braid in a reflex reaction. "Let me GO!" he snarled. Roy, who'd been looking the other way, glanced at the doctor. "Back here, if you would Mr. Elric." she sounded like Hawkeye. Just a little. Roy gave Ed a push in the right direction and he clenched his teeth and went. She grabbed his metal shoulder again, causing him to squeak. "Stay still. Does this hurt?" She pulled gently on his shoulder.

"Ah! Yeah a little." Ed flushed.

"Does it hurt normally, or only when I pull?"

"It's been hurting since I got the fever." he admitted. "My leg's been worse though."

After looking at his leg, she took his temperature with an ear thermometer. Roy chuckled discreetly when he scrunched up his face again.

While Ed got dressed, the doctor filled out a slip of paper and handed it to Roy. "It's all written there." she told him. "He 's got infected automail ports. It's pretty serious. You'll need his regular mechanic to come and detach and treat both ports. In the meantime, give him protein shakes and drinks with vitamins in them. He's starving."

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Back at home, Roy mixed up a sandy-colored protein shake and reported to Al. Ed was upstairs again. Much to own confusion, Roy felt his cheeks pinken when he thought of how Ed had fallen asleep in the cab, slumped against the door. So peaceful and relaxed. It was the closest thing Roy could ever remember to seeing Ed look happy. But more than happy, he looked cute again, just like back in his office.

He handed the now grit-colored mushy drink to Al and dialed the number Al had given him for Ed's mechanic, ignoring thuds coming from upstairs.

"Hello? Rockbell automail here."

"Hello. My name is Colonel Roy Mustang and Edward Elric is currently in my jurisdiction and in need of your assistance."

"...What did he do this time?" an icy cold tone chilled Roy's ear over the phone.

"Um. He's sick. I took him to the doctor and she diagnosed him-"

"PFFT! Ed? You took Ed for a check up? Pfft!"

"Um. Yes. He's got infected automail ports."

"WHAT?"

"As soon as it is convenient, could you come to Central?" Roy tried to stay calm as he spoke to this screaming, hysterical girl.

"Infected? I'll be there tomorrow. I'm leaving now. Can Al meet me at the station?"

"Yes he can. Thank you. Good bye."

Roy hung up. "What a loud girl." he commented to Al, who was coming down the stairs covered head to toe in grit-colored protein shake. "Did he drink any?"

"I'm not sure." Al replied in an irritated tone.

"I told that girl you would meet her at the station tomorrow."

"Alright. You can take care of Brother." Al teased.

"Watch the pro." Roy took the rest of the shake from the blender, alone with some rope and a spoon up the stairs. Al didn't even want to watch. He decided to clean himself off while he waited to see if the house would be reduced to rubble by flames or Edward.

"Ed? I'm coming in." Roy shouldered the door open. Ed was curled on his bed with his back to Roy. He didn't move when Roy set his arsenal down on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Ed? Would you like something to drink?"

No answer. Roy peered over him. Ed glanced up. "Leave me alone." he moaned. Roy felt sorry for him. He sounded exhausted.

"Just drink some of this, okay?"

Ed shook his head. "I'm too tired."

"You can drink it later then, alright FullMetal?"

Ed said nothing. "Alright?"

"I can't sleep here. It's too creepy knowing you're there."

"Is it really?" Roy sat on the bed. 'Well, time to get a little practice at being a father I guess.' he thought as he pulled Ed's shoulders into his lap. Ed looked up, disturbed and slightly afraid, and at the same time, fearing to hope.

"It's okay." Roy told him.

'Just hold on to him for a little while. He wouldn't let anything happen...No! It'd...It'd be too weird...oh well. ' Roy was beyond surprised when Ed suddenly hugged him, burrowing closer. Roy hushed him almost frantically as Ed pulled himself closer.

Clinging to Roy was hurting him he knew, but just this once...

Roy stroked Ed's back as he drifted off to sleep like a little kid who'd just been to scared to sleep before. As if he'd needed someone to watch over him. Maybe he did. The thought struck Roy as something new. Roy had assumed no one could ever breach Ed's tough guy act this way. He'd always thought that Ed really didn't need anyone's help.

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Um ok, I hope you liked that! The part about Ed thinking he's hurting Roy by hugging him is supposed to have to do with his metal arm. He thinks he's hurting Roy with his automail, but I wasn't sure how to put that in.